...Behavioral Approach to Leadership Raluca Gaspar Organizational Leadership / LDR531 February 2, 2013 Shasta Nicholson Behavioral Approach to Leadership Over the years there have been multiple attempts at defining leadership in the hopes that a clear definition will create better leaders in the future. There have been many studies devised by researchers in order to come up with the definition of leadership. The behavior approach is one of many used in those studies. Description The behavior research approach came about when researchers, discouraged with the lack of results of other research approaches, started paying more attention to the behavior of managers, what did they actually do when at work. One category of this approach looks at how managers spend their time, how they cope with demands, constraints, and conflicts, their activities, responsibilities and job functions (Yukl, 2010). Another category of behavior research looks at what behavior makes leaders effective. According to Yokl (2010), leadership effectiveness depends on how well a manager resolves role conflicts, deals with demands of the job, recognizes opportunities, and overcomes restraints (p. 14). Strengths One of the strengths of the behavioral approach is that it takes into account the complexities of individuals. It goes beyond the previous belief that leaders are born, that they possess certain traits (personality, values, skills etc) with which they are born that make...
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...Behavioral Approach Name Institutional Affiliation Behavioral Approach The behavioral approach deals with the manner in the leaders act and what they do, and is very different from the trait approach, that focuses of the personality attributes of the leader and the skills approach which deals with the capabilities of the leader. Leadership is known to be composed of the task behaviors, that facilitate goal achievement and relationship behaviors that give leaders comfort and confidence. Behavioral approach explains how leaders apply these 2 behaviors to achieve their goals. Research has shown that it is important to consider more than traits in leadership, and that it functions better in smaller groups. The research studies were conducted by Ohio State University, Michigan University and by Blake and Mouton around the 1960s. The three researches conducted have been the backbone of the concept of behavioral approach in leadership. The study by the Ohio State University discovered that there are different leadership behaviors, with high consideration and high initiating structure being the most effective ones. The research conducted by Michigan University discovered aesthetic research while Blake and Mouton discovered the leadership grid and likeable leaders. The functioning of the behavioral approach is such that there is no set of steps for an effective leadership behavior. This is because the theory is not a refined one. Instead, it gives an outline that can be used to assess...
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...Leadership Approach Paper Eli Griffin LDR/531Organizational Leadership July 31, 2012 Norma Sutton Leadership Approach Paper This paper will indicate one of the major approaches in the studying of leadership. The paper will indicate the strengths and weaknesses that are a part of the chosen leadership approach. The paper will also indicate an example of an organization currently using the chosen leadership approach. According to Leadership Theories and Studies (2012),”Leadership is probably the most frequently studied topic in the organizational sciences. Thousands of leadership studies have been published and thousands of pages on leadership have been written in academic books and journals, business-oriented publications, and general-interest publications” (para. 2a). Individuals and researchers conducting a particular leadership study state that leadership has many definitions (Yuki, 2010). Yuki (2010) states “Researchers usually define leadership according to their individual perspectives and the aspects of the phenomenon of most interest to them. After a comprehensive review of the leadership literature which also indicates that there are almost as many definitions of leadership as there are persons who have attempted to define the concept” (p. 2a). Behavioral Leadership One of the major leadership approaches is the behavioral leadership study. Yuki (2010) stated,“ The behavior approach began in the early 1950’s after many researchers became discouraged with...
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...Behavioral Theory : Leadership Approach Stephen Vowels LDR/531 January 9, 2012 Tom Griffin, DBA Leadership Approach–Behavior Theory The behavior approach began in the 1950s and focused on the day-to-day actions of the manager, rather than focusing on the leader’s personal characteristics. Over the last 60 years, many studies have researched how effective leaders differ in behavior from ineffective leaders. A questionnaire titled the leader behavior description questionnaire (LBDQ) was developed and measured two basic aspects of leadership: task orientation and relationship orientation. “Early users of the LBDQ believed that the two dimensions were separate and distinct, dividing each into a high and low section which created four quadrants or four leadership styles” (Oyinlade, 2006, Volume 19, Issue 1). According to early users of the LBDQ, an effective leader scored high on both task and relationship orientation. In the industrial era of the 1960s a further development of a similar grid by Blake and Mouton in 1964 measured a person’s leadership style by his or her concern for production (task orientation) on a nine-point scale and concern for people (relationship orientation) on another nine-point scale. This is placed on two axis and split into four quadrants. The belief again was that an effective leader would score high on both production and people concerns. Many variations of this type of measurement tool have the same criticism in that they...
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...Leadership Theory Mid Term Paper For this paper I decide to look at four of the leadership theories. The ones I chose are Trait, Contingency, Situational, and Behavioral. I will talk about the definitions of those four theories. Also I will discuss the overviews of the four theories including positives and negativities of each. Leadership Theories There is a wide and ever growing variety of theories to explain the concept and practice of leadership; to me leadership is a dynamic and complex process. Per our text book leadership is an influence relationship among leaders and followers who intend real changes and outcomes that reflect their shared purposes. (Daft, 2011) The theories that I will talk about simplify leadership into different theories. The first I will talk about is the Trait Theory. Trait theory assumes that people inherit certain qualities and traits that make them better suited to leadership. (Cherry, 2012) Also Trait theories often identify particular personality or behavioral characteristics shared by leaders. (Cherry, 2012) Per our text book traits are the distinguishing personal characteristics of a leader, such as intelligence, honesty, self confidence, and appearance. (Daft, 2011) Contingency Theories of leadership focus on particular variables related to the environment that might determine which particular style of leadership is best suited for the situation. (Cherry, 2012) Success with this theory depends upon a number of variables and qualities...
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...LEADERSHIP PROFILE 2 Crismeldy Santos Liberty University BUSI 503 Leadership profile The behavioral approach explained in this chapter talks about leaders’ approach to tasks and relationships behavior. This approach is not meant to define what makes a good leader based oh his behavior, rather is helps me understand if I am a task oriented leader or a people oriented leader. In this behavioral approach questionary my result was 47 in task behavior and 45 in relationship behavior, very high range in both scenarios. As a leader I believe in task behavior, I am a person oriented to results and finding the best way of achieving the goals we had planned for the group. I would do my best to make everybody feel like they are doing something that is meaningful. Northouse (2016) says that “the behavioral approach provides a framework for assessing leadership in a broad way, as behavior with a task and relationship dimension”. In her article How to behave like a leader Asmus (2014) says that practice makes a great leader and I couldn’t agree more. She mentioned a couple steps that I think can help me improve my leadership behavior: 1. Observe myself and others. 2. Discuss with a peer group. 3. Act on what you I’m learning. 4. Ask for feed back on how I am performing. 5. And adjust to be better. Below you can find the answers to the behavioral approach questions. Reference Asmus, M. (2014). How to behave like a leader | Aspire-CS. Retrieved from: http://www...
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...Three Leadership Approaches Leadership approaches are behaviors are traits that leaders use. All leaders have something in common. What style of leadership is mostly effective depends on a particular situation. There are three kinds of leadership approaches. The trait approach is about identifying different personality traits and characteristics that are connected to successful leadership in so many different situations. This approach is based on belief that ability to lead was something that people were simply born with. Trait approach focuses on the personal attributes of leaders, such as physical, personal characteristics; competencies and values. This approach gives more credit to the qualities a person was born with rather than what they develop in a relationship with followers. This style is characteristic of ones who others see as “born leaders”. This theory believes that if you can identify people with right traits, you can identify leaders. Research was done, and it was found that traits can be learned as well. Traits are strongly associated with person’s perception of leadership. One doesn’t become a leader based on traits, but working relationship between leader and group members, and changing situations. Trait leadership approach works well for organizations with managers in leadership position that have specific traits. School is a good example of an organization in this position. Behavioral leadership approach focuses on the study of specific behavior of...
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...Week One Leadership Approaches LDR 531 February 17, 2013 Dr. Pat Abstract Leadership can have several definitions. Researchers can take many different approaches to studying leadership and leadership styles. Indicators can be examined to determine the effectiveness of leaders and potential leaders. It can be argued that leaders are not “born”; they are trained and taught skill sets that develop their leadership style. Leadership approaches are classified into the following five approaches: the trait approach, the behavior approach, the power-influence approach, the situational approach, and the integrative approach. I believe the behavior approach may be a better suited approach for companies like the one I worked at for eight years. Table of Contents Introduction 4 Research 4 Behavioral Approach 4 Workplace 5 Pros and Cons.................................................................................................................................6 Conclusion......................................................................................................................................6 Reference........................................................................................................................................8 Week One Leadership can be defined many ways. One way to define it is; Leadership is “the behavior of an individual . . . directing the activities of a group toward a shared goal.” (Hemphill &...
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...Leadership Approach Leadership Approach Leadership can be characterized by three variables that help to understand leadership effectiveness. These variables are, 1) characteristics of a leader, 2) characteristics of followers, and 3) characteristics of the situation. Classifying the different leadership theories are done according to the emphasis of the variable. There are several major approaches to studying leadership. Some examples are the trait approach, behavior approach, power-influence approach, situational approach, and integrative approach. With each approach comes several strengths and weaknesses. Examples can be given to help show how a leadership approach can be used in an organization. Behavior Approach The behavior approach to studying leadership, which began in the 1950s, was developed after researchers became uninterested with the trait approach. Instead, they began to focus their attention to what managers do while at their job. The research for behavior branches into two main subcategories (Yukl, 2010). First Subcategory The first subcategory of research observes how managers spend their time and the routines of their activities, functions for managerial jobs, and functions. Other research involves examining how managers cope with the demands, constraints, and role conflicts that can occur during their job. A vast majority of the managerial work research uses detailed methods of collecting data in such ways as direct observation, job description...
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...Behavioral Leadership Approach Hanane Kilaouy LDR/531 August 20, 2012 Bridget Peaco Behavioral Leadership Approach Management and leadership skills of employees inside any organization have a huge impact on its success. Yukl (2010) stated that most descriptions of leadership involve process of influencing people intentionally to lead, and build relationships in an organization (Yukl, 2010). Some leaders are born to become leaders and leadership is a natural skill that they own and do not have to build from scratch. However, in an organization most leaders need to reach some degree of work experience to become successful. This paper will emphasize the behavioral approach, including strengths, and weaknesses as well as an example of this leadership approach used in an organization. Behavior Approach is one of the major research approaches for studying leadership that begins back in the early 1950s after scientists start paying more attention to the behaviors of managers. Leaders are individuals who have characters, behaviors, and abilities to make others complete theirs tasks needed to accomplish the target goals for the company. The behavior approach focuses on the behavior of leaders and their method of accomplishing tasks. The main strength of the behavior leadership approach is that the leader usually carries certain skills and behaviors that fit the whole team and lead to working chemistry that leads to a success in an organization. In this method of leadership...
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...Leadership Approach Paper Overview A simple definition of leadership is the art of motivating a group of people to act towards achieving common goals. A leader should have the ability to lead a group of people with high quality skills and influence others to follow in his or her direction. Leadership is defined as process of influencing others positive behaviors to achieve organizational goals. In this paper I will discuss one fundamental approach to studying leadership as well as the pro’s and con’s of this leadership approach. In addition, I will provide an illustration in which the leadership approach was used in my organization. Leadership Approach Paper Overview of Major Research Approach According to Yukl (2010) the fascination of leadership has wrought enormous and incomprehensible literature endeavor’s; in which to coordinate the literature corresponding to main approaches or viewpoints that reveal merely preferential success. A useful means to categorize leadership theory and investigation is according to the kind of variable that is accentuated the most. The kinds of variables that are applicable for interpretation of leadership efficacy incorporate characteristics of leaders, characteristics of followers, and characteristics of the situations. Examples of all characteristic variables are in the table below derived from Yukl (2010 p. 15, 16). |Characteristics of the |Manners, |Support |Dexterity and, |Behavior. |Veracity...
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...Leadership Approach Paper Zahíra Martínez LDR/531 May 28, 2012 Ben MC Collum Leadership Approach Paper During the reading of the paper the reader will be learning about the Behavioral Theory found as a result of study about leadership it has produced a multitude of perspectives and theories. The Behavioral Theory in one of few theories that can be found on the studies of leadership. Each theory has its pro and cons where not everyone can concord with the same opinion to each theory. The theory centers on what leaders actually do, rather than on their personal characteristics. The Ohio State leadership studies of the 1940s are the most well-known and influential research inquiry in this area (Bensimon et al., 1989; Hoy & Miskel, 1996; Bass, 1990). The leader behavior description questionnaire (LBDQ) established measures two basic dimensions of leadership: initiating structure (task oriented) and consideration (relationship oriented) (Hoy & Miskel). Since early studies using the LBDQ indicated that the two dimensions are separate and distinct, dividing each dimension into high or low sections can create four quadrants or leadership styles. According to the LBDQ, administrators are most effective when they score high in consideration and initiating structure. Another application of this perspective is the managerial grid developed by Blake and Mouton (1964). It measures a person's leadership style by "detecting the degree of concern for production (task oriented)...
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...Leadership Models The dynamics of leadership-follower relationships has grown in the last two decades because of a growing discussion in leadership literature (Popper & Mayseless, 2002) as cited in Avolio. Many companies, which were small 20 years ago have emerged as leaders in the market, overtaking their once larger competitors. These firms internally have revamped the way they do business. They have focused on making changes to their managerial process, thereby creating a competitive advantage (Tichy & Devanna, 1990). The authors go on to say that although traditional managerial skills are important they are not sufficient to bring about organizational transformation. Transformational change will come by incorporating new strategies about people and the structure of the firm. These strategies may include leadership models or theories. A number of leadership models or theories exist, which address change in the way a firm addresses the management of its employees. The contingency view of leadership states there is not a particular model of leadership that is better than another, but rather various situational contingencies determine the success of different types and styles of leadership (Nahavandi, 2006). Of the many number of leadership models four are notable for change. These four consist of trait theory, behavioral theory, charismatic approach to leadership, and the cognitive resource model. A discussion of how each model addresses...
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...Leadership and business performance Assignment of “a good leader influence a group of individuals to achieve a common goal and perform well, without having to watch over them” Word count: 2,927 Introduction Leadership is always considering as an important managerial topic because a good leader does not only able to guide behaviors from followers, but also leads individuals within an organization to achieve their common objectives (Morrill, 2010). The commonly accepted definition of leadership is contributed by David and Vince (2008, p2), who defined leadership as a person has “abilities of leading a group of people, and also has abilities of supporting group of people to achieve common objectives”. More specifically, Bass (1990) defines leadership as the ability to adapt the setting so everyone feels empowered to contribute creatively to solving the problems. The primary aim of this assignment is to critically discuss the topic of “a good leader influences a group of individuals to achieve a common goal and perform well, without having to watch over them.” In order to answer this question well, the author selects Steve Jobs as the leader, and then with reference to Apple Inc to discuss why a good leader as Jobs influences group of individuals without watching them. As an essay based assignment, the author organizes this paper in three main parts, including introduction, main body and conclusion. In introduction section, the definition and importance of leadership...
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...Leadership Models Leadership is the use of non-coercive influence to direct and coordinate the activities of a group toward accomplishing a goal. This is done through direction, encouragement, sensitivity, consideration, and support. Leadership styles will vary from individual to individual. They may also vary throughout the course of one’s career/life. There has been much debate about leadership and the definition of many leadership theories. Early theories of leadership focused on behaviors and qualities of successful leaders. Leaders must take into account the type of employees they are working with and use this to successfully engage the employees. No single motivator applies to all employees. People are complex and attempts that are made to explain their behavior is also complex. There are many approaches to develop theories of employees’ motivation. One of the first approaches to explain motivation was developed by Abraham Maslow and his hierarchy- of-needs. According to Maslow’s theory within every human being exists a hierarchy of five needs: physiological, safety, social, esteem, and self-actualization. Times have changed and so has the research that originally supported this belief. Researchers have now found that Maslow’s hierarchy of needs is not the way to motivate employees (Robbins & Decenzo, 2004). Employee that are actively engaged by their leader, are willing to go that extra step to get the job done. Various leaders are successful at leading...
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